March 2008 MMA News Archive - Page 6

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"Phil Baroni has singed to face Murilo “Ninja” Rua as part of the first ever ElilteXC-CBS Saturday Night Fights show taking place in New Jersey on May 31, independent sources close to the fight have confirmed to MMAWeekly.com"
Who wins this fight?

With three brothers and six sisters, you can bet that WEC lightweight contender Sergio Gomez learned how to fight from an early age. Luckily for him, those early battles for the bathroom in the morning or for the last piece of cake on holidays have paid off to the tune of seven wins in eight pro MMA fights.
But despite his success, his only defeat - to Marcus Hicks last May - still haunts the 25-year old.
“That is the most painful way to lose a fight,” said Gomez, who seemed to have things under control against Hicks before getting submitted by a guillotine choke in the second round. “Anybody who saw that fight knows I was winning the entire time. I just got caught in something I wasn’t prepared for.”

As a child growing up in Geelong, the second largest city in the state of Victoria, Australia’s George Sotiropoulos probably never imagined that he would be making his home in Long Island, New York a couple of decades later. But even though he hasn’t adopted the famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) accent, the welterweight prospect is adjusting well to life in the land of the New York Islanders, Billy Joel, and Amy Fisher.

“ProElite.com has learned that the EliteXC Welterweight Championship bout between Jake Shields and Drew Fickett has been canceled. The bout was canceled due to an undisclosed injury sustained by Jake Shields. The bout was scheduled to take place on the EliteXC/Strikeforce event airing on Showtime this Saturday March 29th. No word on whether there will be a replacement opponent for Fickett.”

Last week Strikeforce world middleweight champion Frank Shamrock accused his adoptive brother, Ken Shamrock, of being a longtime user of steroids. Today, Ken issued a statement to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) to counter the claims, saying they are "absolutely false."

Joe Stevenson (28-8) will look to get back in the 155-pound title hunt when he takes on Gleison Tibau (15-5) at UFC 86 on July 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
MMAmania.com learned that the bout was possible late last week and confirmed the match up earlier this morning.

According to a posting on the American Top Team website, the camp will have at least 4 fighters in action at UFC 86: Gleison (Graison) Tibau, Cole Miller, Steve Bruno, and Ben Saunders. No opponents were disclosed.

Patrick “The Predator” Cote will climb another rung on the UFC’s middleweight ladder when he returns to the Octagon this summer. The Fight Network has learned that Cote will face Renzo Gracie protégé Ricardo Almeida at UFC 86 on Saturday, July 5 in Las Vegas.

Absent from UFC since his UFC 77 Fight Of The Night performance, Matt Grice recently explained that he's taken time off because he was accepted to the Oklahoma City Police Academy as a start to his career, but UFC has left the door open for his return.

In the sport of mixed martial arts, UFC is unquestionably the leading organization, and it's not even close. Other MMA promotions exist, but they haven't even come close to reaching the levels of popularity -- or the levels of fighting talent -- that UFC has achieved.
But EliteXC has a chance of challenging UFC, thanks to a deal that will put it on CBS. Even if they do disappointing ratings by network television standards, the fights CBS will televise on May 31 will instantly become the most-watched fights in American MMA history.
And if EliteXC is smart, it will use that to attract top fighters away from UFC.

On May 31st, MMA will debut on CBS primetime. EliteXC will televise their show live from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
As a fan I'm excited about the sport finally breaking through to the major networks, but evolution always has a price. The question becomes does EliteXC have the talent to support a show on major network TV. As of right now, the answer is no. Unless the promotion makes significant signings or cross promotional fights, the stable just isn't strong enough.

A reliable source has confirmed ProElite, Inc. has offered Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) a four-fight, 18-month contract.
A request for confirmation or comment from Jeremy Lappen, ProElite Head of Fight Operations, has been ignored.
I'd rather he signed with the UFC WVR, or Dream. There are great fights in each of those orgs, but only maybe one in Elite lol.

Gleison Tibau (15-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC), Cole Miller (13-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and UFC newcomer Steve Bruno (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) have all been added to the UFC 86 fight card, the Florida-based American Top Team announced today.
No opponents were named for the four ATT fighters.
IMO this better be on the undercard

"The Ultimate Fighter 1" winner Diego Sanchez (18-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) and UFC welterweight Luigi Fioravanti (12-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) will meet at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale in June.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) confirmed the bout with sources close to both fighters. Sherdog.com was the first to announce the fight last week and reported that it will serve as the night's main event.

Some people are destined to live with aggressive circumstances underscoring their daily existence. Aggression is a fuel, renewable like ethanol, that comes from one’s environment and which can lead you to success or disaster. Karo Parisyan is the picture of success through aggression and it has danced before his eyes like aging celebrities on reality television. This tale has taken many forms but none as unique as that experienced by “The Heat”. This is A Fight Tale.